The road opened as a single lane under temporary traffic lights on Monday following the construction of the new railway bridge, as part of a wider project to electrify the rail line.

Two further short-term weekend closures of the new bridge will take place on April 22 and 23 and May 12 to 15, to complete the project ahead of the full re-opening on Tuesday, May 16.

The closure over April 22 and 23 is only expected to last an estimated 15 minutes overnight to allow the temporary footbridge to be safely removed and the closures in May will allow the surfacing tie-ins to the new bridge to be completed.

The all-vehicle diversion route via the A706 through Longridge, the A705 through Blackburn and A899 in Livingston was be removed from Monday. Other local measures put in place to ensure traffic flow around the closure, such as the traffic lights on the U37 Polbeth Road and C24 Brucefield Road, will continue until the A71 fully re-opens to traffic on May 16.

A council spokesperson said: “School bus services will continue on the same revised routes and timetables in place during the closure until April 24, while council officers assess the impact of the partial re-opening of the A71 after the schools return after the Easter break.

“Parents, carers and pupils will be notified of any changes to the school bus timetable in advance.

“The timetables for a number of commercially operated bus services are expected to change as a result of the re-opening of the A71. These include the Firstbus 800/801 service, the Blue Bus 71 and 77 and the EM Horsburgh 36 service.

“Those using these buses should check with their operators for any changes ahead of their journey.”